


Stealing Legacies

by nerdzeword



Series: A History of Impossible Things [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Heist AU, M/M, Magic, Minor Character Death, Modern AU, Oh wait, Supernatural Elements, archological mystery, back at it again with the timeskips, i am as disappointed by this fact as you are, implied minor character death, is that a thing?, no one cared about him anyway, not so much history this time, whatever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29170404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdzeword/pseuds/nerdzeword
Summary: “Theo, stop!” Luna called out suddenly. “What’s that, your four o clock.”“Looks like an armed guard. Shit.”“First rule of the con,” Harry commented.“Never expect it to go as planned.” Theo nodded. “Alright team, new plan.”
Relationships: Theodore Nott/Harry Potter
Series: A History of Impossible Things [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111112
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	Stealing Legacies

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a sequel, if you have not yet read Stealing History, I would highly recommend reading that one first. Or don't? By all means, follow your dreams I guess.  
> Much thanks to Mads, who is exceptional at fixing my terrible dialogue formatting, and Zan, who is the best at encouragement, and responsible for making me actually yeet this into the void for you all. I've been sitting on the concept for a year now and was very hesitant about sharing it because I have unrealistically high expectations of myself, but, the masses have spoken.
> 
> As usual, all history notes will be compiled at the end.

##  Outside Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 29, 2:46pm

Harry leaned on Theo’s shoulder as they cased their latest heist, Theo was bundled against the cold, with his terribly overpriced, but surprisingly great, coffee in a to go cup clutched in his hand. Harry rubbed his frozen cheeks against the soft wool of Theo’s scarf. Theo always had the softest clothes. Harry adored them far more than he would ever let his boyfriend onto. 

This was Harry’s favorite part of a heist. The part where he got to do normal date things with Theo, but with the added bonus of seeing the dangerous glint in his boyfriend’s eyes that spelled trouble for whoever he was stealing from. Harry appreciated every chance he had to see Theo in his element. 

Harry didn’t help Theo and the team with all of his heists of course, he didn’t have the time to do all of them with his work at the museum. But he helped where he could, and this job was special in more ways than one. 

This one was personal.

“Have you got everything you need from us Luna?” Theo muttered into his coffee

“One more lap and focus on the north wall, then we should be good.”

“No one respects me anymore,” Theo complained as they continued to walk. Harry grinned and snuggled further into his shoulder. Theo complained, but he would hate the team being nice to him.

“I can’t believe this job has another explosives ban. Are you sure we need this book Theo? You have  _ so many  _ books already,” Draco lamented as usual. Harry wasn’t actually sure why he was on the mics at all since he didn’t actually have a role at this stage of the plan.

“Yes. Plus, you know I never pass up an opportunity to wreak a little havoc.” Theo’s hand found Harry’s, and he swung it between them. 

“There’s a difference between wreaking havoc and- ow! Blaise, watch it!” Harry couldn’t even begin to guess what they could possibly be doing on the other end of the mics. 

“Theo, stop!” Luna called out suddenly. “What’s that, your four o clock.” 

“Looks like an armed guard. Shit.”

“So it seems we’re going to need Little Red after all,” Blaise commented blithely. Theo just sighed.

“First rule of the con,” Harry commented.

“Never expect it to go as planned.” Theo nodded. “Alright team, new plan.”

  
  


##  Theo’s Flat, London, December 20, 10:13am

Harry would be the first to tell you that he didn’t see his two best friends nearly often enough. This wasn’t intentional of course, it was just what happened when they had grown up and gone off to do their own things. That was about to change. 

It was the annual family Christmas party, being hosted at Ron’s family farm in western England, fondly named ‘The Burrow’ by some unknown Weasley of times past. Farm was a bit of a misnomer. The property hadn’t grown any real crops for over four decades, and the garden they had now barely held enough vegetables for a couple of weeks of farmers markets, but that wasn’t the point of the Burrow. It wasn’t just a farm, it was a home, the first home Harry had ever really had. The first he could remember anyway.

He hadn’t celebrated Christmas with the Weasleys the year before, too preoccupied with trying to break into and steal from a high security museum. He’d ended up spending the day with Theo, pretending that he wasn’t falling head over heels for the other man, and eating cold takeout on Theo’s well-worn couch. He didn’t regret how he’d spent Christmas the year before, but he was glad he was back to spending the holidays with his pseudo family. 

This would be the first year however, that he would be bringing someone else with him. 

“Theo come on!” He leaned against the wall in the hallway outside of Theo’s bedroom. Theo had been fretting over this trip for weeks. Harry hadn’t really seen the point of worrying, he knew perfectly well that the Weasleys were going to adore Theo just as much as he did. But that still hadn’t derailed any of Theo’s protests. “I’m basically meeting your parents Harry. You expect me to be calm about this?” he’d said, and Harry had stopped arguing with him. It was just another one of Theo’s weird quirks.

Theo had a lot more strange quirks than Harry had originally suspected when they had first become friends, or even when they had first started dating. A year and a half ago, Harry had thought that Theo was an enigmatic daydream, a passing fancy that couldn’t possibly be a real person. He was always calm, always composed, and always, _ always,  _ knew more than you did. 

By the time they had first started going out nine months before, Harry had already discovered that Theo’s calm and composed nature was merely a cover for all of his insecurities and spiralling thoughts. Harry had known as much, and just found himself even more attracted to Theo than he’d been when all he’d known about him was his admiration of Tesla and Greco-Roman art. 

Now though, Harry thought that Theo may just be the weirdest and most obnoxious person he knew, and he knew Blaise Zabini. 

“Are you sure I won’t need anything fancier than a sweater? I don’t- ” Harry sighed and moved to join Theo in the bedroom, where he was holding up two different button ups, both of which Harry knew the Weasley’s would find a bit pretentious. He took the shirts from his boyfriend and hung them back in the closet before throwing a couple of sweaters and a t-shirt in his direction.

“Theo. They’re going to love you. If anything, they’d probably rather you show up in sweats than fancy clothes.”

“I just want to make a good impression.” Theo frowned at the t-shirt. It was one he and Harry had cackled over when they’d visited a Titanic Exhibit while they were casing a place in Las Vegas three months before, and it simply read ‘Titanic Swim Team 1912.’ 

“You will be fine. The first time I met you, you were homeless. Anything you do is automatically going to be a step up from that, and look at where we are!” 

Theo scoffed. “That doesn’t even count, we were like, fated to meet or whatever.”

“Still counts.”

“I highly doubt I can just win over your family with dumb history jokes and facts about Tesla, Harry.” The ‘like I did you’ went unsaid, but Harry heard it anyway. 

“Sure you can. And even if they don’t like you, it doesn’t do anything to change how I feel about you. So stop worrying and come on. We still have a long drive ahead of us.” Theo quirked a smile at him and threw his duffle over his shoulder. 

“Alright then, lead the way.”

“I would, but I don’t know where you parked.” Theo laughed and took Harry’s hand, using it to pull him out of the room. 

“Well, come on then!”

##  Theo’s Flat, London, December 26, 4:09pm

“Okay so, we have the exterior walls, which have security cameras that cover every inch of them. Then, when we get past those, we have the trip sensors on the grounds, which sound scary, but are easy enough to avoid. Then there are the sensors and security cameras on the exterior of the house itself.” 

“You understand how impossible this seems, right Theo?” Pansy demanded.

“I take it you have a plan, boss?” Blaise asked. Theo gave him a smug smile. 

“But of course I do. Don’t you trust me?”

##  Somewhere between London and Devon, December 20, 11:03am

Theo led Harry to his car, parked around the corner, probably illegally. But then again, Harry knew it had been at least a few years since Theo had cared about legalities. If she knew about Theo’s career, Hermione would tell him that he should have chosen someone less illegal to fall for, but Harry thought that Theo’s overall air of mystery might be what made him so interesting. That and his everything else. Honestly, there wasn’t a person in the world that Harry thought he would ever like as much as he did Theo. It was a little bit terrifying to be honest.

They were only driving for about ten minutes before Theo started some inane argument about the origins of hentai that kept them distracted for the entire trip. (Franz Ferdinand’s death was not directly responsible, no matter how compelling Theo’s argument was.) Harry was fairly certain that Theo hadn’t driven the speed limit even once, as there was no other way they could have made it in as short a time as they had. 

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Theo eyed the road critically. There were signs and barriers all along the road leading to the Weasley property, most of them bearing the name  _ Riddle Enterprises _ . Harry bit his lip at the reminder of the man they had locked in a cave a little less than a year ago. 

“This is definitely the way to the farm. But the signage is new,” he responded after a moment.

“Am I the only one getting a bad feeling about this?” Theo asked. Harry only shook his head. No. Theo was not the only one with a bad feeling. Not by a long shot. “Okay good.”

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 20, 1:34pm

Harry greeted Molly at the door as Theo pulled the bags from the car. 

“Harry dear! You are much too thin, have you been eating properly?” Harry laughed, glad that nothing seemed to have changed in the last year. 

“If you think I'm too thin, you should see Theo!”

“Well, we will just have to feed both of you while you’re here, hm?” Theo came up behind Harry and handed him his bag. Molly immediately wrapped him in a hug. Harry didn’t think he’d ever seen Theo so uncomfortable.

“You must be Theo. We’re so happy that Harry has finally started to settle down, we were worried about him you know.” Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and instead chose to stick his tongue out at Theo in mockery of his plight. 

“Where do you have us Molly?” Harry finally took pity on his boyfriend.

“You two will be in Charlie’s old room. He’s not going to be back until just before Christmas, so I’m just going to have him share with Percy.” Harry nodded. 

“Alright. Come on Theo.” He gave one last wave at Molly before taking Theo’s hand and dragging him inside the house. 

“Harry!” the twins chorused upon seeing him.

“Hey guys!” Harry grinned back at them, still keeping a hold on Theo’s hand.

“What’s this-”

“Does ickle Harrykins-”

“Have a boyfriend?” Harry resolutely ignored Theo’s judgemental eyebrow at the twins’ shenanigans. 

“Yes. This is Theo. Theo, this is Fred and George. Don’t eat or drink anything they give you.” Both of them made outraged noises.

“Come on, Harry!”

“It’s all in good fun!” 

Harry just rolled his eyes and dragged Theo further into the house. “I usually room with Ron, but I think he’s bringing his girlfriend this year anyway. Hermione will be in with Ginny again I suspect, and even if the twins weren’t home for the holidays, no one dares even try entering their room. It’s a bit of a safety hazard. We’ll be in Charlie’s room. He lives in Romania right now. He’s doing research on something or the other, I can’t keep track. 

“Apparently Bill also used to share the room too, but he’s been moved out and married for years now. Long before I even got to secondary.” Harry flipped the switch on in the bedroom. It looked more like a guest room than a room that had hosted two different boys, but if you looked closely you could see the signs: a pile of toy dragons in a basket in the corner and some crayon drawings on the floorboards. 

Theo threw his bag on the bed and flopped onto the bed after it, dragging Harry down with him. Harry laughed and turned to face him. 

“You alright?” Theo nodded slowly. 

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. It’s just a lot.” Harry hummed in acknowledgement. 

“We can probably invite Pansy and Draco to join us for Christmas day at least. Luna will already be bringing Blaise I expect.” Theo stared at him for a solid minute.

“... did I forget to tell you that the Lovegoods live like next door and usually come over for Christmas?”

“Yes. You did.”

“Well, surprise?” 

“GINEVRA WEASLEY WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR!?” came Molly’s screech from downstairs.

“Welp. Ginny’s home,” Harry said, standing up and holding out a hand to pull Theo up with him. “What do you say we go rescue her?”

“Wait. When you said her name is Ginny, you meant G I N N Y?” 

“Um yes?” 

Theo hummed. “Well, this will certainly be interesting.” 

Harry narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend but opted to find out what he meant at a later time.

When they made it to the kitchen, Ginny was in an epic stare off with her mother. She had cut her hair, chopping off the long locks she’d had as long as Harry had known her. It now sat in a cute bob that was longer in the front than the back. 

“Hey Ginny. Love the haircut. It suits you.” Harry smiled at his friend.

“Harry! I decided I needed a change. Not to mention the long hair was so much more annoying when I played.” Harry accepted the hug she gave him with a small grin. 

“Wait, wait, wait. Is that Theodore Nott Jr. I see before me?” Ginny backed out of his hold and stared with a near gleeful grin at Theo behind him. 

“I told you to call me Theo,  _ Ginevra.” _

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you telling me that  _ Harry  _ is mystery boy? Ohmygod.” Theo scowled at her and Harry came to the sudden realization that the mystery teammate he had yet to meet because of her day job was in fact the girl he’d grown up with. Too many coincidences. He shared a look with Theo, who he could tell was thinking the same thing.

“So Theo.” Ginny threw an arm around his shoulders, not an easy feat because of his height. “Does Harry here know what you do for a living?” Harry couldn’t even tell if she was trying to be subtle or not.

“He took me to the Field Museum for our first date,” Harry commented before Theo had the chance. It was technically a lie, they hadn’t been dating yet when they had robbed the museum, but they had both known it was going to happen by then, so Harry thought it should still count. Ginny looked between them in shock.

“That was you?”

“Yep. So I take it you don’t want your family to know about your own extracurriculars?” Theo asked, as if he didn’t already know the answer. Ginny snorted. 

“Hell no.” 

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 5:01pm

“Are you ready Ginny?” 

“As I’ll ever be!” Her voice was shaky over the coms, but Harry watched her leap from the branch and over the wall with all the ease of a cat. The problem came when she got over the wall.

“Shit, she put too much power into it,” Pansy said, watching the screen with fervor. “I warned her to not overdo the jump. She always fucking overdoes it.” Harry watched as she rolled to a stop in the grass on the other side, before freezing in place. 

“Did she stop in time?”

“Ginny what’s happening?”

##  Theo’s Flat, London, December 26, 4:11pm

“There are no blind spots on the wall itself. But there is one  _ above  _ it.” 

“What do you mean,  _ above  _ it?” Draco asked from where he leaned against the wall.

“I mean, there is one weakness in the outer wall, and that is here." He pointed to the diagram he had laid out across the kitchen table. "This tree is close enough to the wall that if you were to climb it, you can leap over the wall without setting off the sensors or being seen on the cameras. The problem is that you would have to land in a roll, and you only have three meters to do so before you would hit the sensors.”

##  The Burrow, December 20, 6:25pm

They were all sitting around the table eating dinner when Harry brought up the question that had been plaguing him since they had first arrived. 

“So what’s with all the construction coming in?”

“Oh! We found some old artifacts hiding in the garden a couple of months ago. This nice couple heard about it and offered us some money in exchange for the chance to turn it into an archeological dig! And well, it’s not as if we’re really using the back half of the property anyway,” Molly explained. Harry nodded and exchanged another look with Theo. 

“They’re really weird though,” Fred said.

“Yeah. They won’t let any of us near the site because we don’t have a dig license or whatever,” George continued. Harry’s frown deepened. There was no such thing as a dig license. If there were such a thing, it would severely limit the number of people that could volunteer to help with the digs. Most digs didn’t allow civilians on site because of safety hazards, but there was no need to make up a fictional license for that. 

“And there’s always that one guy who just looks like he’d rather be anywhere else.” Harry exchanged another alarmed look with Theo. There was definitely something going on here. 

“I have a dig license from when I went on that dig last year. Maybe I’ll wander over there tomorrow and check it out,” Harry commented. 

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 20, 7:52pm

“So are we waiting for tomorrow to go to the dig site?” Theo asked when they reached Charlie’s bedroom.

“Not a chance. They’re hiding something, and with our track record, I don’t trust that it will remain on the back half of the property for long,” Harry responded, rolling over to search for his discarded shoes on the side of the bed.

Theo nodded. “Right. Well, we’re going to need these.” He started pulling tools out of his bag. 

“Why did I know that you brought those?” Harry asked, pocketing one of the sets of lockpicks, and a pair of the night vision goggles as he pulled his shoes on. 

“Technically, I just left them in the car. As soon as I saw Riddle industries however, I made sure to shove them in my bag,” Theo explained, fiddling with his own set of night vision goggles. 

“God I love you,” Harry told him seriously. Theo shot him a delighted grin, which he quickly covered with a smirk, and returned to his fiddling. Harry wasn’t sure why Theo was so hesitant to show how much he actually cared about people’s opinions of him, but he decided that was a mystery for a future date.

“Are you ready?” he asked his boyfriend, once his fiddling had turned from casual toying with the buttons into nervous fidgeting. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he responded.

##  The Dig Site, Devon, December 20, 10:24pm

Theo was nervous. Had been for weeks really. He didn’t know why he was nervous, Harry’s family was just as lovely as Harry had said they would be, and he’d even already known Ginny, which was something of a relief. He just couldn’t pinpoint what it was that was putting him so on edge. And then he had seen the signs coming in, and the strange unease he’d been feeling for weeks suddenly made sense.

Despite the fear clogging his throat and pulling the air from his lungs, he really was very glad that he had been invited on this trip. Theo honestly wasn’t sure how he - as a human disaster in a designer trench coat - had managed to snag Harry, who was perfect boyfriend material, (and would be perfect husband material too if Theo ever actually got up the courage to talk to Harry about his burning desire to shower his boyfriend with any stolen jewelry necessary to ensure that he remained at Theo’s side forever).

Theo mostly just liked being wherever Harry was. He liked casing places with him, on the rare occasions that Harry was able to get out of work long enough to join him. He loved taking Harry to museums that he had no intention of robbing, just because Harry’s face would light up and he would go on tangents about whatever artifacts they found and why they were important. He even liked this, crouching in the dark with his night vision goggles, hand clutched around Harry’s. 

It turned out that the goggles weren’t even necessary, as once they got past the barriers, the dig site was lit up with floodlights and crawling with people. Theo watched as they combed methodically through the dirt and sifted shards through water buckets. Off to the side, there were a couple of tables laden with jewelry that had already been cleaned off. Standing in front of them were two men.

“Are any of these it?” one of the men was demanding, gripping the other man by the arm tightly. “Are any of these the seal?”

“No,” the other man nearly growled back. “It’s not here. I told you it’s not here.”

“I don’t want your lies Black!”

“I’m not lying! It’s not  _ here.” _

“You know what happens if you don’t cooperate, Black.”

“I am well aware,” the one named Black responded almost wearily. Theo tapped on Harry’s hand to warn him, then pulled him away from their hiding place and back towards the house. He thought it was probably a good thing that there were so many people working, or their footprints in the snow would have been a dead give away. 

“So what do you think the seal is?” Harry asked, swinging their arms between them as if they were simply out for a stroll in the snow, and not spying on some weird, top secret, archeological dig. 

“Hard to say. It could be anything really. Best guess would be a family seal, maybe a pin or something worn. Could be a specific gem - they used carved gems to make seals in the middle ages - a wax seal, a pendant seal, a signet ring, a piece of wood. Could be anything really.”

“A seal seems like a kind of arbitrary thing to want though. They don’t usually have any sort of monetary value outside of archeological reasons. It doesn’t make any sense for him to be after a seal unless… hey Theo, do you think it could be like the four treasures?”

Harry was of course referring to the four treasures of the founders of Hogwarts, three of which were sitting in Theo’s flat, and the last at Harry’s. They were all somewhat magical, supposedly infused with the powers of the  Tuatha Dé Danann , but Theo primarily used the Diadem as a fancy paperweight, and the Cup couldn’t even make fish n chips, so what was the point?

“It seems likely, given Tom’s history.” 

“The real question is how are we going to get close to the dig to see what they’re after without drawing attention to ourselves?” 

“That’s what I want to know too.”

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 9:03pm 

“Ginny? Are you alright? Ginny, come in,” Harry called out to his friend.

“Yeah, I’m good. Problem is, I can’t move. I landed on the switch, and can’t pull my weight off it without setting it off.” 

Theo tangled his hands in his hair. “Shit.” Pansy eyed the cameras.

“I have an idea. How much of your weight is on it?”

“It shouldn’t actually matter, as long as it’s enough weight that the switch won’t come up,” Draco said, pointing at it on screen. 

“Good. I have an idea. Don’t move, Red.” Pansy pulled her hair into a ponytail, and picked up the medicine balls she had been using as paperweights. Theo handed her a com, which she put in with expert efficiency. 

“Draco, hand them to me.” She scaled the tree with an ease that still baffled Harry sometimes, and nimbly dropped the medicine balls over the wall one at a time before leaping off herself. If Harry had thought that Ginny’s jump had been beautiful, Pansy’s was a masterpiece. It was times like these that he was reminded that her day job was ‘professional ballerina.’

“Great. Let's just hope that’s enough weight.” 

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 21, 10:10am

“So what sorts of things did you find in the garden anyway?” Harry asked the twins at breakfast the next morning. Theo was still barely upright, having stayed up late doing research into the history of the land and the artifacts they had seen. The four of them were the only ones present, as everyone else was either out running errands, having already eaten, or at work. 

“A couple pieces of jewelry, a broken pot. You know,” Fred answered with a shrug.

“And a weird ring. We didn’t give them that one,” George added.

“Weird ring? What do you mean?” Harry leaned towards them. 

“It’s weird. It- I dunno. Feels different than the rest?” Fred responded with his mouth full.

“Different how?” Theo asked

“It’s just got  _ vibes _ .” George pointed his spoon at Theo. 

“Oh yes, that explains everything.” Theo rolled his eyes.

“I dunno man, it would be easier to just show you.” They sped through the rest of breakfast and the twins led them upstairs to their room, where they pulled a box out from under the bed. 

“Here.” Fred handed Harry a ring. It was a fairly simple ring, just a thin metal band with a seal on top, but as soon as the ring hit Harry’s hand, it began to glow.

“Oh. That is weird,” Harry commented, staring at it.

“Yeah, the glowing is new. Sometimes it will sound like there are voices coming from it though,” George commented lightly, leaning back against the wall. 

“Do you recognize the seal, Theo?” Harry asked, trying to look at it through the golden glow it was giving off. 

“I know I’ve seen it before. I’d have to double check though. We may have to have one of the others take a trip to the archives at the College of Arms.”

“Don’t you need a letter of recommendation for that? And would they be able to get an appointment on such short notice? I have a few old books on heraldry, have them try those first,” Harry commented, still looking at the seal in his hand. 

“We don’t even know what location or date range we’re looking for, Harry. All we have to work on is the lion on that ring. Do you know how many coats of arms have lions in England alone?”

“Good point. We should ask Hermione for her help when she gets here too. She’s supposed to get here tonight right?” Harry turned his attention back to the twins. 

“Yeah. She’s bringing Ron and his girlfriend too. The loser still hasn’t learned to drive yet.” 

“Wait, still? I thought he took the test last summer?”

“He failed it!” George seemed delighted by this information.

“Twice!” Fred added with a grin of his own. Harry just shook his head in amusement. The ring had slowly stopped glowing, so he held it out to Theo. 

“Here, see if it does anything for you.” He dropped the ring into Theo’s palm and watched as it continued to not do anything spectacular. He picked it up again, and the ring began to glow again.

“Weird,” he commented.

“It likes you,” Theo stated, as he pulled his phone from his pocket to take notes on. “Does it do anything when you pick it up?” he asked the twins as he snapped a few pictures of the glowing ring. 

“Nope. It only sounds like voices are coming from it when we’re not touching it.”

“It was kind of creepy to be frank.”

“Huh.” Harry rolled the ring around his hand. “Should I try it on?”

“Probably better not,” Theo told him, still typing away at his phone. “We don’t know what that thing can do, and I’d kind of rather you didn’t end up accidentally possessed by a ghost or some shit.” 

“Are ghosts even real?” Harry would believe just about anything at this point.

“Did you forget about the ghoul in the attic Harry?”

“Oh how quickly they forget.”

“I thought you guys made him up actually.” 

“Yeah that’s fair.” 

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 21, 6:10pm

“Hermione! You're here!” Ginny launched herself across the room at her. 

“Hello, Ron. It’s nice to see my favorite brother again. It’s not like it’s been a year or anything,” Ron complained from the doorway behind them.

“Hello Ron. Bill is my favorite brother.”

“Figures,” he muttered, but gave his sister a hug anyway. “Where’s everyone else?” Harry waved to him from behind the back of the couch where he was laying. Theo sat on the floor beside him, gently carding his fingers through his hair. Harry felt a bit like he was going to fall asleep actually. 

“Harry! When’d you get here?”

“We arrived yesterday. Introduce us to your girlfriend!” He was glad when Ron moved around the couch to sit in the chair where Harry could see him properly. 

“Oi! You first mate. I can’t believe Hermione got to meet your boyfriend before I did.” Ron gave him a playful nudge with his foot.

“Theo and I weren’t even together when he met Hermione, so it doesn’t count. And anyway, how could I? You’ve been all the way in Canada for the past year!” Harry ignored the fact that he and Theo had also taken several trips to North America in the last year, so his argument was a bit invalid.

“Right, well, this is Hannah Abbot, she actually went to school with us, I don’t know if you remember Harry.”

“Oh yeah. Hey Hannah. You were Neville’s partner for the chemistry incident of year 10 weren’t you?” 

Hannah gave a delighted laugh. “I was! Oh I had nearly forgotten about that!”

“So who’s this then?” Ron gestured to Theo, who Harry could tell was trying not to comment on Ron’s rudeness. 

“Ah, this is Theo. I met him at the museum when I was an intern.”

Ron narrowed his eyes at them. “Was he the guy with the pretty hair you wouldn’t stop talking about for like, years?” Theo gave Harry a sly grin

“Aw babe, you like my hair?”

“You already knew that dipshit.” 

Theo shrugged. “Yeah but it’s still nice to hear.” 

Hermione and Ginny joined them in the living room, Hermione simply picking up Harry’s legs so she could sit down on the end of the couch.

“So what have you been up to these days Harry? I haven’t seen you in ages!” Ron groaned and Ginny made a flatulent noise before Harry could answer.

“No. Absolutely not. No history while we’re on vacation. You know the rules Hermione!” 

“Why do you have a rule against history?” Hannah asked curiously.

“Hannah, have you ever met an historian? Once Harry starts talking about history, he won’t shut up. I know more about castle fortifications than I have ever cared to learn.” Ron shuddered dramatically. Hermione laughed. 

“They’re not that bad. Mostly just earnest.”

“How can you say that! You work in a  _ library  _ Hermione, if anyone knows how bad they can be, it’s you.” He turned to look at Theo. “I dunno how you do it mate.”

Theo smiled dryly. “Talent I suppose.”

“Oh, Hermione, I wanted to ask you though, have you seen this crest before?” Harry pulled the ring from his pocket and handed it to her; she examined it carefully. 

“Have you tried looking through a book of house crests?” 

“Yeah, we have Blaise searching the book I have at home.” She handed the ring back to him. 

“I don’t remember it off the top of my head, but that doesn’t mean anything. What do you need it for?” Harry exchanged a look with Theo.

“Well, you know how I went on that dig last year…”

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 9:18pm

It turned out that having a map of the grounds to show every single trap made it significantly easier to navigate them. 

“Damn. We need to rob ancient family homes more often,” Pansy commented as she and Ginny picked their ways across the lawns. 

“If we had more time, we would have waited for the annual spring ball. He deactivates all the sensors entirely then,” Theo commented in response.

“No more rich people parties,” Harry complained.

“Sometimes sacrifices are necessary,” Theo told him sweetly. Harry stuck his tongue out at him in response.

“Oi! No flirting on the job. Don’t make me separate you two.” Draco sent them a disgusted look from the other side of the van. Harry just grinned at him and laced his fingers with Theo’s. Theo was watching the screens with intense focus, and Harry rubbed circles across the back of his hand. 

“They’ll be fine,” he whispered to his boyfriend quietly. 

“I know but- ”

“No buts. They know what they’re doing.” 

“Okay Ginny, you’re right on the edge of the blind spot. Veer left,” Luna instructed from behind them. Ginny did so immediately, followed closely by Pansy. “Lovely, the guard house is right in front of you. You’ll have to work fast though, there’s no blind spot by the door.” Pansy stayed behind as Ginny sprinted towards the door. She swung it open and took out the guard with a few quick blows that left Harry reeling in shock. He had known intellectually that Ginny was strong and capable, he had grown up with her after all, and Theo didn’t suffer fools on his team, but it was a completely different thing to see it in action. 

“Right. What’s next boss?” she asked, looking directly at the camera and blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 21, 7:23pm

“Right. Well, why don’t you just ask the guy you saw last night?” Ron asked. “ _ He  _ obviously knows what he’s looking for, and you don’t have to tell him you have it in order to ask him what’s up with all the shady shit around here.” Harry stared at Ron for a moment, then turned to look at Theo. 

“Why didn’t we think of that?”

“Because you’re not used to asking for help?” Theo commented. 

“Well shit.”

##  The Dig Site, Devon, December 22, 9:36am

“Can I help you?” Theo gave the man his most charming smile.

“Hi! Are you busy right now?”

“Um. No?”

“Great! We have some questions for you, would you mind coming to the house with us? Molly made breakfast already too.”

“Uh. If it’s about the dig, you might be better off asking- ”

“No offense, but I don’t think they’ll be able to answer our questions,” Ron interrupted from beside him. Theo still wasn’t sure how he felt about Harry’s best friend, but in some ways, his brusk manner was useful.

“Oh Um. Alright, one minute.” When he finally came outside, Theo noted that the man wasn’t altogether unfortunate looking, in a scraggly, roguish sort of way. His coat had holes in it though, and his jeans looked about two sizes too big. Likely because he himself was two sizes too small. And Molly said  _ Theo _ was thin, Jesus.

“Right. I’m Theo. This is Ron,” Theo introduced them as they walked towards the house. 

“I’m Sirius?” 

“Like the star?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh cool. My friend Draco’s family has that tradition too.”

“Ah… Is your friend named Malfoy by chance?”

“Yeah?”

“Huh. Your friend’s mum is my cousin.”

“Small world.” They settled back into silence. 

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 9:20pm

Theo watched Ginny insert the flash drive that gave Luna complete access to the security system and stood up.

“Go time.”

Harry grabbed his sleeve before he could actually exit the van, making Theo stop abruptly. He turned an inquiring eye upon his boyfriend.

“Be careful,” Harry told him seriously, pressing a lockpick kit into his hands. All Theo could suddenly think was that he was going to marry this man one day. The sooner the better. He would need to steal him something spectacular for that conversation though. Maybe a faberge egg? Hmmm. A problem for a future date. He pressed a kiss and whispered, “I always am,” against Harry’s lips and strolled up to the gates. They opened for him without so much as a creak. He really loved having a good team for these sorts of things. 

Theo strolled through the grounds until he reached the back of the house, confident in his team’s ability to remove any obstacles in his path. From the corner of his eye he could see Ginny knock out another guard. It was a shame she was always too busy to come on most of their heists, she really was very efficient. He looked up at the second floor balcony and tried not to think about the last time he had been in the rooms beyond. 

“Luna. Can you double check that the security is disabled on this side?”

“It seems that the [nargles] have lent us their help. I’ll have to leave them some offerings later.”

“Can anyone else translate for me?” Luna was a damn good hacker, but some of the things that came out of her mouth worried him sometimes. 

“It’s still intact- wait, no. What did you do Luna? Now I’m not seeing any security there at all,” Draco interpreted with a surprising lack of annoyance. “Theo, this seems like a trap. Would he have put the security on a different system?” Theo smiled smugly.

“How long have you been planning this for Theodore?” Luna asked in that whimsical way of hers. 

“Ten years, give or take. Okay team, initiating phase two.” 

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 22, 9:48am

They opened the door to screaming. 

“I told you guys you wouldn’t be able to beat her,” Harry commented from the table, not looking up from his book. Theo took a glance at the other end of the table, where Ginny was looking smug while the twins clutched at their hands.

“They try arm wrestling Ginny?”

“They never learn.”

“Pity.” Theo greeted Harry with a quick kiss then turned to look at the man in the doorway, who stood there... apparently frozen, alrighty then. 

“Harry, this is Sirius.”

“Harry… Are- are you Harry Potter?”

“Yes?” 

“Hi. Oh god this is awkward. I’m your godfather?” Theo leaned on Harry’s shoulder. 

“Huh. I think this may be a conversation we should take to the living room instead.” Harry just nodded mutely, eyes wide. Theo wasn’t sure what was going through his head, but he thought it probably wasn’t something he would want the entire Weasley clan privy to. Ron raised an eyebrow in question, but Theo shook his head. Harry would fill his friend in later, he was sure. They led the man to the living room and sat across from him.

“Maybe you should start from the beginning.”

##  The Potter House, Godric’s Hollow, 25 years ago

Sirius had always sort of believed in magic. He felt like there was always something hovering at the edge of his consciousness, always a lingering question that defied answer. So when the Potters had sat him and James down and told him about the ring, it wasn’t a surprise so much as a puzzle piece finally clicking into place. Of course the Potters were magic. What else could they be? 

It didn’t occur to Sirius until much later that he should have looked for the ring after Fleamont’s passing. It was of course always James’ birthright, Sirius may have known the secret, may have been a Potter in all but name and blood, but the magic was all James’. It wasn’t until he stood there staring at the wreckage of the Potter’s car, godson cradled in his arms, that it occurred to him that anyone else could possibly have found out about the Potter’s secret, and wanted it for themselves. He also never thought about the fact that James never had found the ring before his death.

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 22, 1:22pm

“So let me get this straight,” Theo said slowly. “The Potter’s died in a car crash, you got sent to prison for assault. Meanwhile, despite having proof of his involvement, the guy who cut the brake lines got off scott free and no one has seen him since?” 

“And the Lestranges, AKA your current employers, are blackmailing you into helping them find the seal, using your probation as leverage? That’s shitty,” Harry added.

“That about sums it up, yes.” Sirius looked between them. “I’m surprised you’re not more concerned about the magic.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s not new. We have a glowy sword at home,” Harry commented with a smug grin. Sirius sat up

“You found the Sword of Gryffindor?”

“Yeah,” Theo interrupted them, “What I want to know though, is how they found out about the ring at all, if it was such a secret?” 

“If I had to guess, I would say they have the family tome.”

“The family tome?” Harry asked

“Yeah, it’s apparently been missing for decades, long before your grandparents, but it’s a record of all of the Potters in your line, and their feats. It also supposedly has a lot of information on the family rites.”

“What do you mean by family rites?” 

“I’m not really sure what they entail, but your grandmother thought it must have had things like how to properly use the ring, and rituals for things like adoption. She thought the ring is passed down based on intent, not necessarily by blood, so you would just need to tie the new person to the family with a ritual so the magic could recognize them. Pretty fascinating stuff.” Theo’s breath caught at the thought of an adoption ritual. He had never really wanted kids, his own father had rather turned him off of the idea, but seeing Harry here, with a big family like this, just felt… right. Suddenly all Theo could think about was them with a kid or two. Harry, at least, would make a great dad.

Harry’s voice dragged him out of his thoughts. “So, if the tome has been missing for ages, what makes you think they have it?”

“I don’t know how else they would have found out about the ring. It was a closely guarded family secret, and James and I both had to swear on our lives that we would not tell anyone. They’ve never brought it on site, but I think- no I’m  _ sure _ that the big boss has it.”

“Who’s the big boss?” 

“I don’t know, I haven’t met him. I just know he works directly under Mr. Riddle and above the Lestranges, and you apparently don’t want to cross him.” 

“Luna?” Harry asked Theo

“On it.” Theo sent a text to Luna in the group chat and pulled his laptop out from under the couch. 

##  The Dig Site, Devon, December 22, 11:34pm

Bellatrix was getting ready for bed when the knock came on the door to their trailer. She exchanged a look with Rodolphus and opened the door. When she saw who was on the other side of the door she thought that perhaps she should have put some actual clothes on. The MI6 agent flashed his badge at her, not that she needed it, she knew these men well. 

“Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, if you wouldn’t mind coming with us, we have a few questions for you about an incident that took place twenty five years ago.” Rodolphus made a break for it, shoving past her and taking off. There was a crash and a loud cry, before she heard, “Suspect apprehended,” come from one agent’s headset. 

“Any clue as to who gave us the anonymous tip to their whereabouts yet?” One of them asked the others as he cuffed Bellatrix. If the others answered, she couldn’t hear them over the sound of her own screeches as she caught sight of her husband being strapped to a gurney and loaded into the back of an ambulance. 

It turned out that archeological dig sites were dangerous places to try making a run for it in the dark.

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 23, 8:13am

Theo walked downstairs to find Luna sitting on the couch in bright blue, rubber duck pajamas. He didn’t know why he was even surprised by her anymore, Luna was an enigma that he didn’t think he would ever understand.

“Hey Luna.”

“Good morning, Theo. Did you know you have Nargles?”

“...What?” 

She nodded serenely, and gestured in the general direction of his head. “Just there. Don’t worry, they’re harmless. Do you have something on your mind?” Theo blinked at her again, and returned to ignoring all the weird shit that came out of her mouth. 

“I- yeah. Loads. Don’t worry about it though. Have you found anything?”

“Harry wants the same things as you, you know. He won’t say no if you ask,” she replied. Theo felt a bit like he was going to crawl out of his skin. Luna was always doing this, he was pretty certain she had some sort of crazy empathic ability, and it weirded the hell out of him every time. She continued on as if she hadn’t just been reading Theo’s thoughts. “I found a picture of the tome in a family photo from 1834, apparently it was tradition to hold it in your family photos, fascinating.” She looked enamored by this information, and Theo once again wondered what the hell went on in her head.

“I also found a list of the people on Tom’s payroll. There weren’t that many, it shouldn’t be too hard to narrow them down.” She turned her laptop around to show him the picture. And Theo groaned.

“I don’t even need to look at the list. I know who it is. It’s been in his library for years.”

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 25, 10:05pm

Theo paced the living room, his hair backlit by the fireplace to give him a slightly magical aura of golden light. Harry tried not to be distracted by how absolutely beautiful his boyfriend was, but it was a losing battle. Theo really was very pretty. 

The rest of the team was gathered across the couches, and Luna already had her laptop out and was typing away. Harry thought that Sirius should probably have been filled in on the meeting, but he had been overruled by the rest of the team, who claimed to be giving him plausible deniability. As if that was what would keep his godfather out of prison should they be caught. Theo finally stopped pacing and spoke.

“Alrighty team, we have a very important heist to plan, and not very much time to plan it in. Luckily, our target is nothing if not predictable.”

“Who’s the target?” Pansy asked from her seat on the arm of Draco’s chair. Theo grinned, and Harry felt a bit weak again.

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 23, 10:18am

“My father. He’s the only one on the list Luna found that is both still alive and has enough money to fund an enterprise like this.” 

“Okay so how do we figure out where it is and what he’s doing with it?” Harry asked, looking over his shoulder. Across the room, Molly was force feeding Sirius more food, while he used Harry’s phone, presumably texting someone.

“Where it is is easy. It’s in the library of the manor. Has been for years. What he’s doing with it is… a little bit trickier.”

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, 13 Years Ago

The library was something of a sacred place. Spanning two massive rooms and holding thousands upon thousands of books, it was one of the few places around the manor where Theo never felt bored. His mother always told him that reading was the cure to all ills, and if more people were educated properly, troubles would simply float away. Theo wasn’t sure he would go that far, after all, his father was by no means uneducated, and he was the most troubled person Theo knew. 

Sometimes however, he would curl up on one of the big reading chairs in the corner, and he could see where she came from. Nothing really seemed impossible with a book in your hand. He had just finished reading Treasure Island, and was in search of another - less tedious - read when he found it. It didn’t look like much on the outside, a sturdy, leatherbound, brown cover with an engraved capital P, which looked like it had at one point been embossed. Any other thirteen year old might have put it aside, but Theo had inherited his mother’s great love of old things, and was immediately enamored with it. 

The fact that the entire thing was handwritten over what looked like several centuries, and much of it written in Middle English, did nothing to dull his enthusiasm. He couldn’t read most of the book, but the parts he could read were equal parts intriguing and baffling, and he considered asking his mother for help in translating the tome, just so he could continue. He was so enamored by the book in fact, that he didn't even notice the call to dinner until his father strode into the library to find him.

“What are you reading, boy.” Theodore Nott Sr. had never been the kindest man to his son, but the impatience in his voice prompted Theo to look up at his father even faster than he normally might have.

“I’m not sure. I found it in the biographies.”

“I found it in the biographies,  _ sir. _ ” 

“ _ Sir.  _ It’s rather interesting though, I wasn’t aware we had any books like this in the library.” His father looked down at the page, where Theo had spent the last ten minutes trying to make sense of a strange diagram.

“Where did you say you found this?”

“The biographies?”

“Curious. Off to dinner, Theodore, tell the cook you don’t get desert because you were late.” Theo groaned, but stomped off in the direction of the family dining room anyway.

When he came back to look for it later that night, the book had vanished.

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 9:43pm

“You’re good to go, Theo.” Theo rolled up his sleeves and searched behind the ivy to find the handholds he had started carving into the brick when he was eight years old. His mother had thought he was terribly clever in doing so, and appreciated that he was less likely to fall three stories to the ground. Theo wasn’t sure his father had ever actually learned of them. When he made it to the balcony, he pulled out the lockpick kit Hary handed him and set to work on the doors. By the time he had made it completely inside, Harry had joined him.

“So this is the room you grew up in?”

##  Outside Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 29, 1:24pm

“I now understand why you are the way you are,” Harry commented, looking up at the massive building.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Theo demanded, even as Harry wrapped an arm around him and laughed.

“He means you radiate ‘rich boy’ Theo, which is hilarious considering how much time you spent homeless,” Pansy explained over the coms as they started to walk around the building.

“I wasn’t asking you Pansy,” Theo responded grumpily.

“That’s a real shame. Oh wait, guys go back, there’s a crack in the wall.” 

“Look at it on the next pass. I’m not backtracking. We’ll never get this done if we do.”

##  The Burrow, December 24, 4:27pm

“The big boss is coming for an inspection on New Year’s,” Sirius told them as he pulled off his coat. 

“What do you mean by inspection?” Harry stopped stirring the - what he assumed was gravy - to stare at Sirius.

“I  _ mean  _ he is wondering why the Lestranges haven’t answered the phone in three days.”

“Shit.” 

“We can’t afford to let him go underground.” Theo bit his lip and stood up to pace. “If we lose him now, there’s no guarantee that he won’t hide the book somewhere we can’t find it and come after us instead.”

“So what does that mean for us?” Harry questioned

“It means that we have to take action before he moves it. It means we only have a week to pull this off.” Theo collapsed back into his chair, his thinking face firmly in place.

“Well, shit,” Harry commented as Molly bustled around them, ushering everyone to their places at the table for Christmas dinner. 

“Well shit, indeed,” Sirius responded

##  The Burrow, December 24, Night

“We don’t have to do this Theo. We don’t need the tome to stop him. We already have the ring,” Harry’s voice whispered from the dark.

“We do though. I don’t know where else we’re going to potentially find an ancient family specific magical adoption ritual.”

“Adoption ritual?”

“Well yeah, adoption makes the most sense doesn’t it? I mean, I guess we could use a surrogate, but that seems pointless when there are  _ so many  _ kids that don’t have parents already.”

“Theo. Are you telling me you want kids?”

“Well yes, I thought that was fairly obvious.”

“Theo…”

“I don’t think you understand.” Theo reached out to hold Harry’s face between his palms. “I want  _ everything  _ with you, Harry.” Harry’s breath caught in the dark. 

“Theo.” Harry’s fingers wrapped around his hands, and suddenly Theo was on his back with Harry pressing kisses across every centimeter of his face. “Yes. Theo, Yes. I want that. I want all of that. Everything.” Theo wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck and let out a shuddery breath into his hair. 

“Harry. Harry, I love you. So- So much.” Harry pressed a kiss against his collarbone and let out a soft sigh of his own. 

“Theo. If we do this. You need to do it for you, not just because it’s my family tome, or because you think I want it. I lived twenty six years without a magic family ring. If you’re not comfortable going back there, I don’t need it, our kids will just grow up just as perfectly normal as we did.” It did something, eased an ache he didn’t even know he had, to hear Harry talk about  _ their kids  _ \- like they were an inevitability. 

“I- I think I need to though. Yes, I would love to return your family tome to you, but I think- I think I need closure.” 

“If you’re sure. I’m with you, Theo. Every step of the way.”

“I know.” And that was the thing wasn’t it. He did know. He had Harry, and Harry had him, and they would be okay. 

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 10:08pm

Harry would have known that it was Theo’s room immediately, even without being told. The room had obviously not been touched since the day Theo ran away, as the bed was still unmade, and the sheets Theo had used to escape were still piled on the floor by the balcony door. There were books from every genre covering every surface, and the shelves were interspersed with little vintage baubles. Harry even saw an astrolabe sitting on one of the shelves. Despite the record player that Harry was near certain Theo had never once touched in his life, and the general air of “college professor’s office” that seemed to have been teenage Theo’s aesthetic goal, you could also tell that the room had still belonged to a fifteen year old. 

It was the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, long dead from lack of sunlight to charge them. It was the Mummy and Indiana Jones movie posters, which were stapled up rather than framed. And above all else, the fact that the entire contents of the dresser seemed to be spread around the room haphazardly. 

“He really hadn’t touched it in the last eleven years?” Harry asked Theo as he spun around in the space. Theo snorted. 

“He has a bad back, so he prefers not to come to the second floor at all if he can help it. And he didn’t like me, so I knew he would rather pretend I didn't exist at all. He didn’t even notice when I disabled the security sensors on the back wall when I was twelve, because I was tired of having to climb the wall around them. And my mother was the one who always updated the security systems, so I had a feeling that he probably hadn’t bothered to have them checked at all in the last ten years, only added the latest security on top of the existing system.”

“What if you were wrong? What if he had reactivated the security?”

“Then we would have figured it out, but there’s no sense worrying about it now.” Harry didn’t bother arguing, but Theo’s lack of concern regarding the situation worried him a bit. 

“Right. Well, where would it be? The library?” Theo shook his head and led the way to a staircase that was hidden in a closet. 

“This is the old Young Ladies Staircase. My rooms are the original Young Ladies’ rooms. No one else ever had a reason to come up here, so I doubt many people even remember this staircase is here.” Harry blinked at him. 

“Just how many staircases are there?”

“Uhhh four? I think there are four. Maybe five.” Harry just stared at him in shock. 

“You gave this up to be homeless?”

“I met you didn’t I? It wasn’t all bad.”

“I dunno Theo, this place is incredible.” Harry wasn’t even just talking about the architecture, or the fact that he had picked out no less than four stolen paintings in this hallway alone. 

“It is, isn’t it? Maybe with you around, it’d actually be a good place for kids to grow up!” Harry blinked and looked at Theo. 

“What are you-” Theo spun around to face him.

“I have decided!”

“What?”

“I couldn’t decide what to steal you as an engagement gift, but I think I’ll just have to steal you this house.” A lot of things about the past few weeks suddenly made sense, and Harry was filled with a sudden rush of fondness.

“This is hardly just a house Theo, and you do realize that you could have just asked me without stealing me anything right?”

“Nonsense! Theft is the backbone of our relationship Harry! It would be terribly inappropriate to ignore that now.”

“Oh, and here I thought that love and a dash of fate were the backbone of our relationship.” Theo let out a mocking scoff that was entirely faked. 

“Primitive!” Theo stated loudly, spinning back around. They had made it to the main staircase, and Harry stopped on the landing in front of the large windows. The moon shone through the windows, basking Theo in a halo of silver light. 

“Oh. I guess I won’t be needing this then.”

“Won’t be needing what-” Theo was interrupted by the click of the lights at the top of the staircase lighting up, illuminating the hundreds of golden stars that had been painstakingly hand painted on the dark blue ceiling of the stairwell. Theo stared up at them in wonder. 

“What-”

“Theo.” Harry had never expected to actually be able to pull this off, with Theo’s penchant for just knowing everything going on around him. Theo turned to look at him and Harry knew the surprise that was carved on his face would stay with him forever. 

The carpet on the staircase wasn’t really cut out for kneeling on, but Harry couldn’t even be bothered to think about his discomfort because Theo was still staring at the ring he was holding up.

“Theo Nott, will you marry me?“

##  Theo’s Flat, December 29, 10:46am

“Why are you still waiting?”

“Huh?”

“You know he’ll say yes. He’s just as scared as you are.” Harry was always a little unnerved by Luna’s penchant for seeing through people, but it was something completely different to have it turned against him. 

“What do you mean?”

“You should ask him.” 

Harry didn’t even try to guess how she knew about the ring that had been stuffed in his pocket for weeks. He had been going back and forth about it since the day he had bought the ring, half of him wanting to drop to one knee the minute he returned to Theo’s flat, and the other half mentally holding him by the shirt collar, saying they hadn't even been dating a full year yet, it was too soon. Evidently Luna was part of the former category. 

“I know. I want to, it’s just… it never feels like the right time.”

“Oh Harry, don’t you know there’s no such thing as a right time or wrong time? Just time, and how you chose to spend it.”

“I just… I want it to be special.”

“Whenever you do it, it will be special to him, just don’t overthink it.”

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 10:12pm

Theo was a very smart person. Despite not even holding a secondary school diploma, he would argue that he was one of the smartest people he knew. He was smart, so he had known, intellectually, that Harry had loved him back, and wanted to live with him and adopt some children with him and maybe, probably, even marry him one day.

It turned out that knowing something intellectually was completely different from looking down at the love of his life, as he held up a beautiful golden ring that Theo was pretty sure had  _ not  _ been stolen, but actually bought from a store, as if they were a normal couple in love and not morally questionable thieves in the middle of a high stakes heist to rob his own father of everything he loved. 

Theo loved this man  _ so damn much.  _

“Yes,” he gasped out. “Fuck, Harry, I just- Yes! Of course I’ll fucking marry you, you ridiculous fucking-” He never did figure out what the hell he was trying to say because Harry was picking him up and swinging him around like the romantic loser he was, and Theo thought he might actually burst from happiness as he kissed him.

“Guys. What the fuck,” Draco cut in before Theo could get too distracted and offer to blow off their current plans in favor of snogging his new fiance on his childhood bed. “Did you fucking forget that we’re in the middle of a heist here?”

“Draco! Don’t be like that! It’s cute!” Ginny chided him “I’m happy for you guys anyway, even if Draco is a stick in the mud.”

“We’re in the  _ middle  _ of a  _ heist!  _ You couldn’t wait a few hours to get home and snog?” 

“I think it’s romantic,” Luna said. 

“Of course you do, you were probably in on it the entire time! Don’t think I didn’t notice what you did with the lights Luna.” Theo could just imagine the dreamy smile on Luna’s face as she gave a noncommittal hum in response. Harry laughed lightly and slid the ring on Theo’s finger. 

“Let’s go, I guess. We have a book to find.”

“Right.” Theo forced his thoughts back to the present and pulled Harry down the stairs by his hand. He pulled him past the formal dining room and down the butlers hall. Traditionally, his father’s study and rooms would have been upstairs, but due to his father’s hatred of stairs, he’d had the billiards room remodeled to be a master bedroom. Theo hadn’t been into the room since he was a small child, but he thought he might return it to its original form out of sheer spite. The study was in a room that had originally been some sort of storage room, the original house floorplan had simply labelled it as the ‘Odd Room’ and Theo had never actually been in it, only seen glimpses of it through the cracks in the curtains and the sliver of an open door whenever his father had deemed him worthy of actually answering.

Theo had been prepared to pick the lock or force his way in, which was why he was immediately on edge when they reached the door just to find that the study door was already open. He pressed the door all the way open with the tips of his fingers, careful to watch for tricks or traps around the door. The study was everything Theo had always pictured it to be, dark, unnecessarily fancy, and unbearably impersonal. He flicked the lights on, and took in the mess his father had left behind. The desk was covered in books on middle english and chaucer, and sitting in the middle of all of it was the Potter tome. 

“Why does this feel like a trap?” Harry asked.

“Probably because it is.” Theo walked towards the desk and looked down at the book, then at the rest of the desk. 

“There are no trip wires or… anything else really. It’s like he just left in a hurry and didn’t take the time to clean it all up.”

“Is that normal for him?” Harry asked, following him to stare at the book. 

“I don’t know,” Theo responded. And that scared him more than anything else. His father fifteen years ago? Never. But the father of today, who hadn’t bothered to update the security on the second floor? Who still actively served a dead man? Theo didn’t know what that man would do.

Harry reached out before Theo could stop him, and touched the book. 

Nothing happened. 

“Well, I vote we get this over with as quickly as possible. Just in case.” He gave Theo a small grin and proceeded to flip through the book as if it were a fashion magazine or a shopping list, and Theo was suddenly reminded that his fiance could read early and middle english, and usually even make his way through many of the old Celtic languages. He wondered if it was weird to find that hot. 

“Weird. There’s an entire chapter in here of prophecies. Your dad bookmarked this one- hang on.” Harry handed Theo the bookmark and read it aloud. 

_ “Whan the legends and lore of past  _

_ and the fealty of present men collide,  _

_ two families bycome oon  _

_ and fate will have hire tyme. _

_ day meets nyght,  _

_ east meets west,  _

_ sheep and monkey pass their test.  _

_ Al ys lost and al ys found,  _

_ what once was buried nowe o’er ground.”  _

Theo looked at the paper in his hand. It was a transliteration of the same prophecy into modern english, in the margins his father had written  _ Theodore and Harry?  _ Theo’s blood went cold. He wasn’t even sure his father knew he was alive, had he known about Theo and Harry all this time?

Harry had continued to flip through the book. “Theo. Look at this.” He handed Theo another piece of paper that was tucked into the book. This one was a photograph of his mom holding him when he was maybe two years old. Standing beside her were what could only have been Harry’s parents, Harry really did look remarkably like James, baby Harry was in his own mother’s arms. On her other side was Sirius, and they were surrounded by a few others that Theo didn’t recognize. He flipped the photo over, and scrawled in his mother’s terrible handwriting was: 

_ Theo and Harry’s first Order of Ravenclaw meeting. _

_ “ _ What page was this on?” Theo asked. Harry pointed at the page in his hand. 

“It looks like it is a spell to transfer power from one family to the other.”

“Of course it is,” Theo scoffed, scanning the page. 

“Thing is, apparently this is a last resort sort of spell, like if the family is dying out and there’s no other way to pass on the magic. It relies on a familial tie of some sort, so like, my dad could probably have passed it on to Sirius since he considered them brothers. That sort of thing. It’s just- I think your dad wanted to use _ us _ for the spell somehow.”

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 11:06pm

Theo strode out through the front gate as if he were simply on a casual stroll through the neighborhood, and not on the back end of robbing his own father. The others had already left, erasing the remnants of their presences with a practiced efficiency. Theo was taking his time however, he had three minutes before the main cameras would reset, and he was busy imagining the future he and Harry could build here. What sorts of secrets could they uncover about this place? What sort of joy could they bring it?

“Theo. He’s coming back. You have approximately 20 seconds to get your ass to the van before you’ll be getting left behind,” Pansy demanded over the coms.  _ Shit.  _ Theo glanced back at the house, then took off at a run. His father must have been closer than they thought. Theo skidded around the corner, and saw his father’s car approaching. 

“Shit, shit, shit.” 

“Theo!” Harry was leaning out of the van holding out his hand. Theo reached out and let Harry pull him up, even as Draco stepped on the gas. He and Harry collapsed onto the floor of the van, and Theo let out a small laugh.

“That was a bit closer than I was planning,” he breathed out.

“You think!?” Draco called from the driver’s seat. Harry burst into giggles. 

##  The Burrow, Devon, December 31, 11:47pm

The knock on the door took them off guard, even though Harry had been halfway expecting it. He really should learn not to anticipate any calm holidays. He listened to Molly chat with the person at the door from around the corner. 

“Really? Harry? Oh, he’ll be delighted, I’m sure!” She called to him from over her shoulder. “Harry! There’s someone here to see you!” Harry sighed and set his cup down before joining her in the kitchen. “He’s from the dig site! He says he thinks they found something that may have belonged to one of your family members, and since Sirius mentioned you were here today, he thought you might be interested in seeing it! Isn’t that exciting!?” He smiled at Molly, bless her soul, and looked up at Theodore Nott Sr. standing in the doorway.

“Hello, I’m Harry, nice to meet you.” He held out a hand for the man to shake, which he did with an obviously fake smile. 

“Excellent! Harry Potter! Oh wow, you must be the last of your line!” Harry gave him a thin smile in return. “Would you like to see it? I wasn’t going to bother you this late, but well, I couldn’t help myself, you know how new discoveries are!” Theodore Sr. laughed. Harry looked back over his shoulder to where Molly was smiling widely and giving him shooing gestures. 

“Um. Yeah, sure! Let me just grab my coat?”

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 11:05pm

“I can’t believe you’re making me an accessory in this,” Draco complained loudly. 

“An accessory to what? You’re already a criminal,” Harry said, unperturbed as he leisurely flipped through the office filing cabinet.

“Blatant PDA.”

“That is the basis of the plan, yes,” Theo commented dryly. “Luna have you found the best one yet?”

“I think the one by the driveway is best. It’s hidden in the bushes, so it’s easy to overlook. Easy to believe it’s an honest mistake.”

“And it doesn’t give anything away about Harry, except what we want him to know,” Ginny commented from where she was ridding the kitchen of all of its snack foods. Theo hummed in agreement. 

“This is so dumb. Can’t you just post something on facebook or something?” Draco questioned, and Theo could only scoff. 

“My father? Using social media? Get real, Draco.”

“Still. You’re intentionally getting yourself caught, after all that effort it took to get in  _ without _ being seen?”

“Yes, well now the plan revolves around him seeing us. We need him to know that Harry and I know each other. I’d rather he think he’s cornering us, than end up kidnapped us in the middle of the night so he can complete his stupid ritual.”

“At least this way we control the wear and when,” Harry commented, still playing with one of the random knick knacks Theodore Sr. had lining his shelves.

“And I suppose you have a plan for after he hunts your ass down, too?”

“Of course. It’s like you don’t trust me at all.”

##  The Dig Site, Devon, December 31, 11:52pm

Theo wasn’t surprised that his father had already prepared everything for his mysterious spell by the time he arrived at the dig site. He was glad that his father had at least caught on to the fact that he would be at the Weasley’s house as well. It wasn’t as if Theo had been particularly unpredictable, with his penchant for stealing the things his father was after from right under his nose. In fact the only person he had ever stolen  _ more _ from was Harry. 

He was however, surprised that his father had managed to pull a gun on Harry in the five minutes it took Theo to make his way back to the dig site in pursuit of his wayward fiance.

“Theodore, there you are.”

“Father.”

“Is this where you’ve been all these years? Hiding in the wilderness with this peasant family?” his father sneered. Theo wondered absentmindedly if that was how his father had always talked to him, and how he had never noticed. Honestly, peasants? What century did he think they lived in?

“Nah. This is actually pretty new.” Theo shoved his hands in his pockets, if only because he knew that it would drive his father insane. Why had his father decided that midnight was the perfect time to complete a magic ritual? It was freezing, and the Weasleys did not have enough of Theo’s overpriced and underappreciated coffee on hand to make this conversation worth it. 

“And I see you’ve dragged young Draco into your shenanigans. I’m assuming that you are why Lucius has been unable to contact him?” Theo snorted. 

“ _ You _ try telling Draco what to do.” It was interesting that he had recognized Draco’s car in the Weasleys’ driveway. Had his father been keeping tabs on all of his friends in order to learn about Theo? That wouldn’t surprise him, it  _ would  _ however be very strange that his father hadn’t discovered Theo before, though. It wasn’t like his friends were subtle. 

“Why are you doing all this?” Harry asked curiously, and Theo had to fight to keep from rolling his eyes. It didn’t  _ matter  _ what shitty reasons his shitty father had for  _ any  _ of his shitty actions. What  _ mattered  _ was making sure that he and Harry both managed to make it out of this situation intact. And Sirius Black too, he supposed, since the man insisted on being present where he was not hiding very well in the corner.

Theo forgave him because he had insisted he be there to help protect Harry, which was in fact Theo’s first priority at all times. His father obviously found Harry’s question as dumb as Theo did, because he laughed.

“Money? Power? You pick.” 

“And you think a supposedly magical spell is going to help you achieve that?” Harry scoffed. Theo had to admit that, put like that, it did sound a bit insane.

Theodore Nott Sr. was predictably outraged by this obvious snub and showed his displeasure by pressing his gun closer to Harry’s temple.

“Why does this keep happening?” Theo asked no one in particular. He would very much like people to stop pulling guns on his fiance. Theo wondered if this was how Harry had felt the year before, when Tom had taken him hostage. He hated it. He would need to make sure they were never hostages again. 

“Enough pretending Theodore, I know you were at the manor yesterday. You know exactly what this is for.” Theodore Sr. gestured at the giant array at their feet. 

“Yeah, and I know you need both of us for it. What makes you think Harry is going to agree to that?” Theo demanded, crossing his arms and feigning calm. His father grinned and let Harry go. Theo only had time to let out a relieved breath before his father had raised the gun back up and pointed it at Theo. That was only marginally less nerve wracking.

“He’ll do exactly as I say, or he’ll be passing the ring to me instead, and the bond we use for this spell will be a bond of hatred.” Harry shot Theo a panicked look and turned back to face Theodore Sr. 

“You can’t do that!” Harry pleaded. 

“I can!”

“He’s your son!” Harry was aghast.

“He is no son of mine,” Theodore Sr. hissed through his teeth. Theo thought he should probably have been more upset by the revelation that his father had never actually cared about him, but Theo thought he might have used up all his emotions in mourning his mom the year before. Now this was just the sad, old man who had killed his mother.

“Ouch. Wow dad, tell me how you really feel.” He pouted in the way he was well aware his father hated.

“Enough, Theodore!” He held the gun even steadier. “Make a decision, Potter.” Harry looked between them desperately,

“Fine!” he finally shouted. “If it means you’ll leave us alone, I’ll do whatever you want! Hell, I’ll even give you the ring, fat load of good it’s ever done me, just - please - don’t hurt Theo.”

“Harry! You can’t-,”

“Stay out of this, boy.” Theo ignored his father to plead with Harry, who had been slowly inching his way towards where Theo was standing. Theodore Sr. watched them carefully, but didn't try to stop Harry as he finally made his way to Theo.

“Harry, that’s the only thing you have left of your parents, I can’t steal it back once it’s gone. I mean, what are the odds that someone could successfully steal the same object twice?”

“I would never ask you to-,”

“Wait!” Theo’s head shot up to face his dad, arm instinctively wrapping around Harry’s waist. Theodore Sr. narrowed his eyes at them. “I want insurance. You’re not only going to give me the ring, but you’re going to give it to me legally.” Theo stared at his father in shock, he had never cared about doing anything legally before, why was he so concerned right then? 

“Deal,” Harry agreed too quickly.

“Harry!” Theo hissed at him, but his father cut him off before he could properly chide the man. 

“None of that now Theodore. Toss me the ring, Potter, and get into position. I trust you know where that is?” Harry nodded, even as Theodore Sr. stepped out of the array Harry’s hand slid down Theo’s arm to lace their fingers together. Theo wondered how he could remain so calm in the face of the gun pointed in their direction, and the imminent forcible removal of his family magic. 

“Toss the ring,” Theodore Sr. demanded. Harry used the hand that wasn’t clutching Theo’s, to pull the ring from his pocket and followed his instructions without complaint. Theo grinned internally when the ring missed its mark and went rolling across the ground, causing Theodore Sr. to go stumbling after it. Once he had retrieved the ring - far too quickly, as far as Theo was concerned - Theodore Sr. stood up and gestured at them with the gun.

“What are you waiting for? Stand in the center, I know you know how this works.” Harry sighed and pulled Theo to the center of the array, and stood facing him. 

“Harry, we don’t have to-”

“Theo. I can’t lose you.” Harry took his other hand as well, and squeezed them in his own. Theo could hear his father off to the side, reading the spell off the page in shaky Middle English that he was near positive Harry could have recited perfectly, but all he had eyes for was Harry. Harry whom he desperately loved. Harry who loved him back. Loved him enough for this. Theo leaned forward and kissed him, desperate for that last moment, should something go wrong. 

“No regrets, Harry,” he whispered against Harry’s lips as a magical wind buffeted his hair around his face and pulled his scarf from his neck. Harry squeezed his hands in response.

“I could never regret you.”

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 10:28pm

Harry was still going through the last pages of the book when he found them. Theo had moved on to inspecting the rest of the study for other interesting clues. 

“Theo, you’re going to want to see this.” Harry held out the newspaper scraps that had slid out from between the pages. Theo took them gingerly and read through them, quickly discovering what Harry had noticed. All of the clippings were about them, at least tangentially.

The oldest of the scraps seemed to be one about Harry’s grandfather opening his business. Harry assumed that Theodore Sr. had saved it because in the attached picture you could see the outline of the Potter family ring on his finger. Next was a clipping from the night Harry’s parents had died, a picture of their burnt out car taking up most of the page. The clippings stopped for a while after that, until a clipping of Harry’s football team, which he remembered being printed in all of the local papers after they had won the district championships in year eleven.

“That was after I had run away. Was he looking for you for that long?” Theo pointed out.

“And here, you found me without even trying,” Harry commented, amused despite himself. 

There were other papers of course, once Theodore Sr. had figured out where to look for him, he apparently had no problem keeping track of where Harry was and what he was doing. 

“He kept better track of you than he did me,” Theo commented, amused. Harry could only find it creepy. The most telling paper was, however, the one cut from an american paper the year before. 

**Field Museum Theft**

Above the article was a picture that had been taken at the party the night of the heist, and circled in the corner was the profile of Theo. It wasn’t close enough for anyone else to recognize him, but for Harry, and evidently Theodore Sr., he was unmistakable. Written in the same red marker was just the word  _ Alive?  _ Underlined twice.

“Are you kidding me? All that effort to make his life miserable, and he didn’t even know it was me?” Theo glared at the photo as if it were personally insulting him.

“It doesn’t look like he knows we’re together though.”

“It certainly does not. What do we know about the ring now though? Can we use it?”

“Well, If I had to guess, I’d say he probably used the spell he bookmarked here, which ties the book to a property until the current owner’s death. Which means we can’t remove the book from the property.”

“Not ideal. What else? What does the ring itself do, since you obviously don’t need it to do spells.”

“Best I can figure is it channels all the best bits from your ancestors like - if you had a hard task or a battle, it takes all the best traits of your ancestors through your blood and channels them into you, and temporarily gives you those traits.” He turned back to a page in the front. “For example, this guy - not a good swordsman - but he put on the ring right before a battle and it gave him the dexterity needed to keep from getting killed.”

“So it looks like I’m going to have to steal you this house either way!” Theo was far too pleased by this impossible concept. Harry just sighed.

“Oh shit.” Theo had only been back at digging through the cupboards for a few minutes when he spoke up again. “Hey Harry, what do you know about your grandparents?” 

##  The Dig Site, Devon, January 1, 12:04am

Theo opened his eyes to stare at Harry. His glasses were crooked, his hair was a mess, and he had also lost his scarf to the magic wind, but he seemed otherwise unharmed.

“What happened? Did it work?” he asked, looking around. His father was laying on the ground on the edge of the array, but Theo ignored him in favor of going back to taking stock of themselves. 

“I’m not sure.” Harry looked down at their entwined hands. Theo pouted when Harry pulled his hands free of his own, but let him go. He was rewarded when instead of pulling away, Harry wrapped his arms around Theo’s middle and hugged him close. 

“We’re alive. We’re okay,” he murmured into Theo’s shoulder.

Theo could only hug him back as he responded, “Yeah. We are.”

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 10:33pm

“Oh shit.” Theo leapt over the back of the couch to settle next to Harry. “Hey Harry, what do you know about your grandparents?” 

“Hm?” Harry questioned, dragging his eyes from the page. The dangerous glint in Theo’s eyes was back. He set the tome aside and looked at the paperwork Theo was handing him.

“What’s this?” he asked, scanning the page as fast as he could.

“This is proof that you are not in fact the first Potter to steal something back from my father.” Harry glanced up at Theo, eyes wide, Theo’s grin just spread further, and Harry thought he had never looked more like a predator than he did just then. “It is also our ticket to stealing everything he owns.” 

Harry looked back up at the title of the document, and let a slow smile creep over his face. 

**Official Record of court proceedings in the case of Fleamont Potter vs. Theodore Nott**

Defense: Theodore Nott, charged with two counts of trespassing, one count of theft, and one count of destruction of private property.

Verdict: Guilty.

##  Piccadilly Circus, London, 31 years ago

“Mr. Nott. Out of prison I see.” 

Theodore Nott stopped walking and turned to look at the speaker. “Mr. Potter. How lovely to see you again,” he lied. Fleamont Potter just smiled serenely. 

“I hear congratulations are in order as well, our son James was telling us you just got married. Calla was James’ senior in school. I believe she was the one who got him the job at the British Museum. We would offer to have you over for dinner sometime as thanks, but I think you could understand why we would be hesitant. Given our… history.”

“You mean how you framed me and stole the ring that was rightfully mine?” Theodore sneered in return.

“When we took you to court for stealing a family heirloom that had no reason to be in your possession in the first place? Yes. You should make more of an effort to keep your hands to yourself next time Nott. Someone in the future may not settle for sending you to prison.” Fleamont stalked off without a look back, cane clicking on the ground with every step.

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, December 30, 10:27pm

“He thought we were the ones in that prophecy.” 

“Which is dumb, everyone knows prophecies are bullshit anyway. They never make sense until after the fact. But that’s not what I was trying to show you- look! Theo! The page before this one is also a spell, and it’s nearly identical to the other one, but  _ this  _ one is apparently the one you’re supposed to do after each new person inherits the ring, as a way to renew the blood bond on the ring.  _ Apparently  _ if the ring is actually bonded properly, it’s impossible to steal or misplace, because it will automatically return to the wearer. That’s why it was at the Weasleys’ house, it was returning to me, but wasn’t quite powerful enough to make it the entire way.”

“So, you’re saying that all it would take to derail his plans completely, is a few altered lines in an array that he can’t even properly read?” The grin that spread over Theo’s face was near gleeful, and would probably have scared Harry had he not known exactly who that look was meant for. 

“Okay team, change of plans.”

##  Attorney's office, London, January 4, 9:28am

The morning shone bright against the fresh snow as Harry and Theo walked up to the door of the attorney’s office, hand in hand. 

“It’s about time, boys. Where is the paperwork?” Theodore Sr. demanded from the armchair by the door as they walked in. “Give it here, I want to make sure you didn’t try to alter it.” Theo frowned at his father and let go of Harry’s hand to pull the paperwork from his briefcase. Harry watched him pick through the copies, counting them by some measurement known only to Theo, and stopped his hand.

“Theo,” Harry warned. Theo sent him a look, and finally pulled out the document, passing it over silently. He walked over to hand the lawyer who was acting as their official witness a copy of the same paperwork.

“For the record, I still don’t like this,” Theo stated when he turned back around. “What you’re giving up - it’s too much.”

“That is not your decision to make, Theodore,” his father replied crisply. “This all seems to be in order. Where is a pen? Let us get this over with.” The lawyer smiled and passed one across the desk to him. 

“Here you are, Mr. Nott. I imagine you’re eager to get on with your retirement.” She gave him a wry grin, and Theodore Sr. snorted. He dragged the pen across the page as if the pen itself were the only thing keeping him from his dreams. Harry let out a final breath and took the pen from Theodore Sr.’s hand. He smiled wanly at the lawyer and scrawled his name along the line. Theo took the pen from him and signed on the last line, and like that, it was over. 

Theodore Nott Sr. swept out of the room.

##  Marmitage Manor, Berkshire, February 4, 8:06am

Theo looked up at his new home, smiling pleasantly as the Bailiff continued to stop his father from entering the property. Not that he could if he tried. Theo had already changed all of the locks, and fixed the security issues that allowed them on the property the first time. Theo had sent two separate notices of eviction in warning, it wasn’t _ his _ fault that his father didn’t listen to them. His father should be grateful really, Theo had only implied that he was not entirely coherent, and had forgotten that he agreed to give Theo power of attorney and move into Theo’s London flat, for his own safety of course. If anything, his dad should consider himself lucky that Theo had even left him the flat. Harry had been against leaving the flat as well, until Theo mentioned that it was a fourth floor walk up, and his father hated stairs.

The Bailiffs had been very understanding of course, some people just couldn’t understand their own limitations, and they had even offered to give his father a ride to his new flat, so Theo could settle in. He thought that was very kind of them. Harry came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Theo’s middle. 

Theo sunk into his arms. “Good morning, dear. Are you ready to move our combined thousands of books?” he teased. 

He could feel Harry make a face into his shoulder. “Why couldn’t we have just hired movers?”

“Because we don’t know how much of this house is stolen, and I don’t want people seeing anything they shouldn’t until I know for certain that I have a good explanation for it.” 

“Hmm. We should paint before we unpack anything then. It gives you a good excuse to take all the paintings off the walls.” 

“Smart  _ and  _ pretty. I knew there was a reason I liked you.” 

##  Theo’s Flat, London, January 4, 3:12pm

“Oh my god. I can’t believe that worked,” Pansy declared, aghast, as Theo regaled them with the tale. Blaise stormed into the flat with all the force of a whirlwind and pulled his wig off, tossing it off to the side of the room. 

“Good god Theo, your pops is a real piece of work. You know he requested to reread the entire document twice before you even arrived? And have two of his own lawyers read it? You’re lucky I was prepared,and am actually a lawyer and know my stuff, because I swear he was about to shake me - or rather- _ Tracy Higgins, Attorney at law  _ down.” Blaise tossed him a folder with the processed papers and collapsed onto the couch.

“Guess what, though bitches, you are now the executors of one Theodore Nott Sr.’s entire estate. And, as that is his full, unaltered signature on that paperwork there, even if he  _ tried  _ to contest it, he would never get anywhere, because I have video footage proclaiming that he was the one demanding the whole damn thing. Fuck, I’m good. Is this what euphoria feels like? Hey Draco, toss me a beer.”

Pansy’s eyes ping ponged between them. “Wait wait wait. I don’t get it. How does Theo’s dad signing a paper for a ring equal you getting the entire estate?”

##  Attorney’s office, London, January 4, 9:31am

It was well known in the business, that the most successful cons were the simple ones. Theo Nott was well aware of this fact, and planned accordingly. All it took was a bit of sleight of hand, switching the contract, not with a fake, but with an identical page that had been cropped so that when it was placed on the desk, the signatures were the only part of the prepared underlying paper to show. Once placed, it was a simple matter for Blaise, from his place behind the desk, to align the page so the edge was not obvious. 

After everyone had left, all Blaise had to do was finish filing the change of ownership. It really was alarmingly simple, which was likely why Theodore Nott Sr. had never seen it coming.

##  Theo’s Flat, London, January 4, 3:15pm

“Wait wait wait. So you switched out the paperwork. Fine. But how did you get your dad to agree to signing the shit in the first place?” Pansy asked.

Harry grinned at her over his own beer. “I don’t know what you mean, he insisted upon it. It certainly wasn’t because Theo implied that I might follow my grandparents example and take him to court in order to steal the ring back from him. That would be a very large stretch.”

“So he decided that he needed to, what? Obtain it legally?”

“Something like that.” Theo shrugged. “I can’t begin to predict what might be going through my father’s head.”

##  Theodore Nott Sr’s Safety Deposit Box, London, February 7, 11:46am

Theodore Nott Sr. was not in the habit of using safety deposit boxes. However, after receiving the first notice of eviction from his son, who had somehow weaseled his way into power of attorney over his physical assets, Theodore decided it was best if he had a contingency plan in place. So he opened a safety deposit box under a false name, and moved all of his most important documents and priceless artifacts into the well secured bank vault, certain it would take his son far longer than a few months to plan a heist of that calibre. 

Theodore even double and triple checked the security of the vault in his absence, going so far as to watch the security footage before even stepping foot in the room where they would bring his deposit box. By the end of his investigation, he was certain that the only one to have touched the box in his absence was himself. Which was precisely why it came as such a shock when he opened the box to find that despite the seal he had placed upon the contents not being triggered, the only thing missing was the Potter ring, seemingly vanished into thin air.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. the name Marmitage Manor means nothing and was supplied by my baby brother because it, and I quote "Sounds snobby and British." Thank you for your wise words, Jared.  
> 2\. the College of Arms is an actual thing, and where you would need to go, should you have spare money to burn and an insatiable urge to make yourself a family crest.  
> 3\. the Potter family actually already has a crest (so does the Nott family) but I have elected to ignore this fact, as it does not have a lion on it, and I wanted one- for reasons.  
> 4\. this was supposed to be a Christmas one shot, (lol) so my outline had virtually no history in it *insert sad history major noises here* I opted to keep it that way so I could fill in a bit more of Harry's backstory, rather than trying to shoehorn in information. Besides, my current research topic is ancient Chinese mythology, and I don't know how I would have swung that one.  
> 5\. Marmitage Manor itself is laid out based on Bearwood House, which is basically a castle lol. I spent far too much time researching it, considering I made up my own house, but the layout is available online and is very cool if you want to look it up. The house is now a school or something, and there are next to no photos of the interior though, which makes me very upset.  
> 6\. I watched like three documentaries as 'research' before I realized that I had gotten off topic, and didn't actually use any of the information.  
> 7\. I have always wanted to join an archeological dig, but I never have the time, so unfortunately, all info here is second hand. Feel free to correct any misinformation.  
> 8\. as a history major, I need you to know that all history majors are insufferable. This is because at any given point in time, there are like three other people who care about whatever topic our specific research is on, and two of them are dead. So we tend to inflict our hyperfixations on literally everyone in hopes that someone will find our research as interesting as we do.


End file.
